Why Mitch McConnell Is Stalling Your $1,200 Check

Bernie Sanders and Josh Hawley are standing next to each other calling for this. If you have trouble reading this message, view it in a browser.       Send Everyone Checks for $1,200 Immediately. How Is This Even a Question?   Let's ignore the putative leader of the free world for a moment, even if he continues to ransack the American republic while beginning to sound like Jim Jones at the end, and get to the matter at hand: the checks for $1,200 need to go out immediately. Where are the checks? When is the United States Congress going to respond to the developing national crisis of employment and income as the pandemic surges to a level more destructive than spring's first wave? Millions and millions of Americans are un- or underemployed due to forces entirely beyond their control. Many face a "cliff" on the day after Christmas and the possibility they will simply have no income. Small businesses are closing left and right, and the pace is about to accelerate. Lines at food banks are stretching farther and farther. Reports are growing of Americans shoplifting food to survive. Why has there been no aid? How have the gears of democracy grown so worn that Congress cannot grind into motion even to respond to a clear-cut natural and national disaster? The simplest answer is the Republican Party, and specifically Mitch McConnell. Politics Editor Jack Holmes breaks down the federal government's disregard for progress when we need it most. Read More           'Seditious Abuse of the Judicial Process' Sounds About Right   Before we get to the latest installment of our new action-adventure series, This Week In Sedition, we should pause to salute two angry voices of reason. The first is Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro, who came to our notice when, as one of his first acts as AG, he took a 12-pound sledge to Holy Mother Church's stonewall that it had erected around the sex criminals in its clergy. On Thursday, he issued a reply to Texas AG Ken Paxton, who may not have noticed that his case for overturning the election had been disemboweled because the FBI dropped a subpoena on his ass. Shapiro's reply contained one of the finest sentences that we have read in a long time. Here's Charles P. Pierce on the Christmas candy that is "seditious abuse of the judicial process." Read More           You Need a Good Winter Coat. Here Are 24 of the Best.   The ideal winter coat should be warm. It should protect you from wind, snow, sleet, and all sorts of nasty weather. And it should look halfway decent doing it. So much so, in fact, that you won't look forward to those atypically warm days in the slightest. Sound like a tall order? Worry not. Because we tracked down some of the best options to buy now, long before that neighbor you secretly hate has the chance to scoop the one you had your eye on—ruining it for you forever—and you're forced to call an audible and go with a different choice in a moment of desperation. Read More           Michael Bay's Songbird Is a Physically Painful Movie to Watch   Maybe (maybe!) but not really, you could hall-pass Songbird, Michael Bay's new COVID-19 cash-in, if it was trying to say something, anything at all. But the message depends on what part of the movie you're watching. The movie's opening-credits news bites feature an Alex Jones-type wailing about, leading you to think Songbird was gearing up for an anti-vaxxer-and-masker takedown. We don't really get that. There's some spoofing of Bradley Whitford's character milling about town, but he leans more sex addict than nose-peeping out mask guy. And, generally, Songbird gives a big, rubber-gloved thumb up to staying inside, but only because a goon in a hazmat suit will throw you in the Q Zone along with Perry Mason's rogues gallery. Songbird was the first film to resume production in Los Angeles during the pandemic and it shows. It seems less concerned about what to say about this moment in hell, and more worried about being the first pandemic movie. Read More           The 36 Best Gifts for Anyone Who Loves Coffee Above All Else   Coffee is the first thing most folks think about every single morning. It's the only thing that gets them out from under the covers. And nowadays, drinking coffee is much more of an art than loading up an old six-cupper with Maxwell House. We have more time than ever to get serious about fresh grinds and pour-over techniques. We have endless hours at home to drink it. So give the coffee lover in your life something to make them feel close to chipper every morning: a coffee maker that'll give them barista-level skills, a subscription that'll send them the best coffee beans on a regular basis, a mug for nursing coffee around a campfire, or one of these other 36 great coffee gifts. For the holidays, or for any day drinking coffee is on the schedule. Read More           35 Gifts for the Book Lover in Your Life   Let's face it: The bookworm in your life likely doesn't need any more books. Chances are, their shelves are already groaning beneath the weight of their collection—not to mention that they're rather particular about their literary diet. Rather than adding another book of questionable appeal to their exhaustive collection, why not think outside the box? There are plenty of reading-adjacent gifts that will support their favorite pastime without burdening their shelves. 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